Dear Reader, We have faded from spring to summer in Central Florida, but today still had a few traces of nice spring weather. I am sure when summer is actually here, I will long for the cooler days of late April, but it still feels pretty hot. Today is nice ,though, I wonder if it … Continue reading Rainy Season Blues
Dear Reader, The risk of a new day (and sometimes the beauty of it) is that it has the potential to be the best day of your life or the worst. Sometimes bad days start off good and end up bad, and some days start off bad and end up good. And then there are … Continue reading Causing Confidence
Dear Reader, You are not enough, will never be enough, and that’s okay, because Jesus came to be enough. For the past week everything has been a reminder of Easter: Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and of course, Resurrection Sunday. The kind of church that I go to doesn’t observe every day … Continue reading Not Enough
Dear Reader, It’s barely April and I am tired already. I’ve been telling myself that things will slow down after the county fair in January, but they seem to be about the same level of busyness. Nothing really has changed as far as me being busy other than trying to make it to younger siblings’ … Continue reading I Was Told it Produces Character
Dear Reader, Did you grow up being told European fairy tales to put you to sleep, or just to entertain you on a long car ride? You know, nostalgic ones from our childhood about witches kidnapping babies and tricking small children, weird tests to find out if someone was a true prince or princess, and … Continue reading A Rancher’s Analysis of Rumpelstiltskin
Dear Reader, Winter is almost over, but the precarious months between early winter and late spring are the hardest in ranching. Everything is tired of being cold: the horses, the cows, the dogs, even the trees. The rancher is constantly calculating whether things will hold out until the grass comes back. If there is … Continue reading Winter Days and Winter Nights
Dear Reader, It is fair season in Florida, and this coming week will be our county fair. One unique thing about our county fair is that it is exclusively for youth from third grade to twelfth grade. If you haven’t guessed, agriculture is very big in our county, and this fair is a very big … Continue reading Just for Show
Dear Reader, Some ranchers come from a long unbroken line of ranching, some ranchers come from a short unbroken line, and some ranchers are brave pioneers in uncharted territory for their family. There is also an unofficial fourth category of loop-de-loop, zigzag line of ranching that may kind of skip a generation here or there … Continue reading Legacy Business?
Dear Reader, Christmas is over, and this is the first year that I am not mournful about it. I understand that Christmas is hard for some people for various reasons, and sometimes I do get the Christmas blues when I remember people who are no longer there, and I get the Christmas stresses when there … Continue reading Motivational Ranching
Dear Reader, I don’t know why but lately different stories that were told to me as a child have been popping up in my head. I did have some unique stories that were told to me growing up. Stories about my grandpa’s family in Mexico, stories of my mom’s family in wild Florida, and stories … Continue reading Jack and the Beanstalk
From the Rancher's Daughter's Desk 